Sera stared at him.
The words he'd spoken still echoed through her skull like thunder.
I'm the Alpha of the Nightfang pack. And you… are my mate.
It was insane.
It was impossible.
And yet, it explained everything.
The way he moved. The energy that shimmered beneath his skin. The hunger in his eyes that had nothing to do with lust and everything to do with claiming. The electricity that had danced along her skin since the moment they met.
"I…" Her mouth was dry. "That's not real. Werewolves—packs—that's all just myth."
Lucien sat up in bed, the moonlight casting sharp shadows across his bare chest. He looked like something carved from sin and darkness — and when he met her gaze, there was nothing human in his eyes.
"You know it's real," he said calmly. "You've felt it. The pull. The way your senses are changing. Your body is waking up, Sera. Because I found you."
She swallowed hard. "You mean… I'm one of you?"
"No," Lucien said. "You're still human. For now. But the bond between mates… it changes everything."
Her pulse skipped. "You mean… I'll become one?"
Lucien gave her a long look. "Only if you survive the mating."
Sera's breath caught.
"What does that mean?"
He stood slowly, walking to the window. His muscles flexed under his skin as he stared out into the city — the dark silhouette of a man who didn't quite belong here.
"It means that marking a mate is permanent. Physical. Spiritual. It ties us together in every way. If your body rejects it, you'll die."
The air felt heavy. Sera's chest tightened.
"But if I survive?"
Lucien turned, his expression grave and electric.
"Then you'll be mine. Fully. You'll feel what I feel. You'll crave the hunt. You'll change."
Sera wrapped the sheet tighter around her. "Why me, Lucien? Why would a man like you—a creature like you—want someone like me?"
His eyes softened, but only slightly.
"Because fate doesn't care about logic," he said. "You were born for me. And I've waited a long, long time to find you."
Sera felt something stir deep inside her — something older than fear. Something that had been asleep all her life but was now wide awake.
"Why now?" she whispered. "Why did you find me now?"
Lucien crossed the room and stood in front of her, bare and unapologetic. He leaned down, his lips barely grazing hers.
"Because something's coming," he said. "Something dark. And you're the only thing that keeps the beast in me from tearing it all apart."
Elsewhere, in the Shadows…
The rival pack had caught wind of Lucien's scent in the city.
A boy — lean, sharp, and wild-eyed — crouched near the fire in an abandoned warehouse. He sniffed the air, a feral grin curling on his lips.
"He's found her," the boy said. "The Nightfang Alpha."
Behind him, a woman with silver eyes and black dreadlocks stepped forward, her fangs glinting in the firelight.
"Then we strike now," she hissed. "Before he seals the bond. Before she becomes one of them."
Back at Sera's Apartment…
Lucien stood at the window long after Sera fell asleep, her head resting on his chest, her breathing slow and steady.
His hand stroked her hair.
He could feel it — the shift in the wind. The tension crawling through his veins.
He had marked cities before with nothing more than blood and fire. He had walked away from wars and buried lovers whose names he never dared speak aloud.
But Sera?
She was different.
She was his.
And now that he had her…
He would burn the entire world to protect her.
Even from herself.
Even from the wolf inside her that was beginning to awaken.